Automatic shift for cars



(No Model.) W J AOK$ON AUTOMATIC SHIFT FOR CARS.

.No. 539,518. Patented May 21,1895.

.5 lllll I FH 1' ohms PEYERSVOOY. mc'rouma, wnsmun scent and ascent onsaid incline is regulated UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

WILLIAM JACKSON, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SHIFT FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed October 9, 1890.

- c To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAOKSON,.a resident of Allegheny, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedanew anduseful Improvement in Automatic Shifts for Cars; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to an automatic shift for cars, that is, to a formof apparatus by which coal, ores or other materials may be transportedin cars or other receptacles down an inclined plane, and havingdeposited their load at the lower terminus thereof, may be automaticallydrawn back to the original starting point, the head of the incline, tobe again refilled.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a form of apparatusin which the car descends and again ascends automatically with a rapidyet positive movement devoid of sudden starts and jerks, which in allinechanif cal contrivances are to be avoided as produc tive of strainsand undue wear on the parts of the apparatus.

It further relates to the mechanism for automatically relieving the carof its contentswhen it has reached the lower extremity of the incline.

To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in conjunctionwith an incline plane, of a car or other receptacle, whose deby thepower exerted by a weighted lever situated at the upper end of saidincline and connected to a revolving drum by suitable gearing mechanism;so that when the car has been loaded and permited' to descend theincline, the weighted lever will confine its movement to a certain fixedrate of speed, and when the car has been relieved of its lead onreaching the terminus of the incline, the said lever exerts sufficientpower to draw the car back to its original starting point.

It also consists in certain other improvements in connection with theoperation of the car, and the automatic discharging of the load thereofas will be'hereinafter set forth and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make Patent No. 539,518, dated.May 21, 1895.; Serial n0. 367,574. (No model.)

and use myinvention, I will describe the same more fully, referring tothe accompanying drawings, in which- I Figure l is a side view of anincline plane with a car thereon and my improved automatic shift appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the weighted lever and themechanism connecting it to the car, with the lever in the positionassumed by it when the car is at the upper end of the incline. Fig. 3 isa side view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the lowerterminus of the in cline, showing the block which operates to relievethe car of its load. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of the car. Figs. 6and 7 are enlarged end views of the car, showing the closed andopenpositions of the car. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail'views of parts of thelocking mechanism of the car, and Fig. 10 is a detail view of lock inrear of the car.

Like letters indicate like parts in each.

My invention is illustrated in connection with an .incline plane A ofthat style constructed to transport cars from a mine or other source ofsupply of coal, ores, &c., to the point of consumption of same, or forreloading such materials to be transported'to distant points. The car ais adapted to travel on the tracks of said incline A and when at theupper terminus thereof, the wheels a of said car rest upon the track,the car being held in'place by any suitable retaining device which willprevent the car from descending until it has been loaded to its fullcapacity.

Secured to the rear axle a? of the car or to e at about the mid-pointthereof, said pinion meshing with a large gear wheel'g secured to theshaft 9' also journaled in the frame B.

Secured to the outer end of the shaft g is the weighted lever h, saidlever having the weights h h thereon adapted to be adjusted at differentpoints thereon, according to the weight of the car and the speed atwhich itis desired tolower and raise the same.

It is evident that the drum 0 can be made of any desired size and thatthe train of gearing can be extended as required to obtain through thelever the necessary power to operate the drum and draw back the caraccording to the length of the inclined way.

The carat is preferably constructed of metal to withstand the wear andtear to which it is subjected, and to make provision for the dischargeof its contents the bottom 11 is made double inclined or convex in form,presenting the inclined faces z' down which the contents of the car willtravel when the sides have swung apart as will more fully appear. Thesidesj of the car are hinged as at j to the upper rim a of said car andas the frame of the car is made outwardly flaring the sides j when intheir normal position will present an inclin ed interior face.

In order to hold the sidesj in their normal or closed position, rockingbars are journaled at about the mid-point of the sidesj in suitablejournals 7t, and to lock the rear ends of said sides in position,locking arms Z are secured to the rear ends of the sidebars is, saidlocking arms having the shoulders Z formed thereon.

Brackets m are secured to the ends of the car and extend out therefromwith which the shoulders Z of the locking arms Z engage, thus serving tohold the rear portions of the sides in their closed position. To look inlike manner the front ends of the sidesj, locking arms 92 are secured tothe forward ends of the rocking bars 7c, said locking arms it having theshoulders 71 formed thereon engaging with the brackets 0 extending outfrom the front end of the car a. The locking arms it beyond theshoulders n are first bent to form recesses 19 and then again bent toform the supplementary arms q integral with and at right angles to theoriginal locking arms 91. Within the recesses 13 formed in the mannerdescribed are journaled the rollers 7', said rollers bearing on thefaces of the inclined bars 3 which are secured ats to the body of thecar and as s to I-bars resting on the car axles, the locking arms 17.fitting between said inclined bars and. the body of the car. Secured tothe supplementary arms g, which are rigid with the locking arms at, arethe weights t.

In order to raise the supplementary arms g, by which operation thelooking arms at the front and rear of the car are released to permit thesides to swing open, I construct at the lower terminus of the inclinewhat I have termed the cam block it, said block having the cam orinclined face to. Any other suitable form of block or releasing devicemay, however, be employed.

The practical operation of my improved automatic shift is asfollows:-The length of the lever h and the size of the weights h 7 anddiameter of the drum are to be determined by the capacity of the car a,as well as the distance and rate of speed at which it is to travel.Assuming that such provision has first been made, the car a at the upperend of the incline is at a standstill with its wheels a, resting on thetrack A, being held at such point in any suitable manner until the caris ready to make the descent. In this position the car is loaded withthe coal, ore or other material, the rope or cable b being wound aroundthe drum a, while the lever 7L will be in the perpendicular positionshown in Fig. 2. When the car a has been filled, said car is releasedfrom the retaining device which has held it in place, and as aconsequence the car begins its descent, the weight of the car whenloaded being sufficient to overcome the resistance to its descent due tothe weighted lever h. Force of gravity and the momentum it gains in itsdescent will carry the car down the incline and unwind the cable I) onthe drum 0, thereby causing the rotation of the pinion d and through itthe operation of the gearing mechanism consisting of the gear wheelse,fand 9, this movement on the part of the said gearing mechanismoperating to gradually raise the lever h fulcrumed at g. During suchoperation the increasing resistance offered by the weights h 712 as thelever 72. is raised toward a horizontal position, will check the forceof gravity and overcome the natural increased momentum which impels thecar and will regulate its speed at a positive rate. hen the lever 71 hasreached its horizontal position, as previouslydetermined, the car willhave reached the lower terminus of the incline where it comes to astandstill. \Vhen the car has traversed the length of the incline uponreaching the lower terminus, the supplementary arms q of the trippingmechanism will first come in contact with the cam block u and travelingup the face u'of said cam block will raise them with the locking arms17.. This elevation of the locking arms 72 will release the shoulders nfrom engagement with the brackets 0, while at the same time through theside rocking bars 7c, this elevation of the locking arms at will alsoserve to release the rear locking arms Z from engagement with thebrackets m. It is apparent that at the moment the several locking arms72. and lhave been released, the weight of the material within the car,assisted by the inclined faces 11 composing the bottom of said car, willforce apart the free ends of the sides j and make its escape to anysuitable chute below. As the slides j are forced apart, the rollers 'rjournaled in the locking arms nwill travel up the inclined bars scarrying with them the weighted supplementary arms q. \Vhen the car hasagain engage with their respective brackets 0 and m. The weight of theweighted arms q adds impetus to the descent of the rollers ron theinclined bars 3 andinsures the locking of the sides j, the said rollers1' relieving the friction. As soon as the load passes from the car it isthen of much lighter weight than the power exerted by the weighted leverh at the upper terminus of the incline, and which by the descent of thecar has been brought to the horizontal position as illustrated inFig. 1. Just as soon therefore as the car is emptied, the weighted leverit will descend of its own weight and being fulcrumed at 9, it willcause the. rotation of the gear wheel 9 and through the mechanismdescribed will rotate the drum 0, and through the rope draw back thecar, the car being drawn back away from the cam block to before thesidesj swing back to place, and the weights 1. on the'levers q aretherefore free to draw the swinging sides against the car body so thatthe locking arms Z and it may engage therewith. In this manner the car awill ascend with a gradual positive movement, the cableb again windingaround the drum 0 until the car has reached the upper terminus ofthe'incline and the weighted lever It has dropped to its verticalposition, when the car comes to a full stop and is in position to beagain refilled and allowed to descend in the manner described. Thelength of the lever h and the position of the weights h k thereon arepreviously adjusted with such nicety that the power exerted by saidlever ceases the moment the car reaches the head of the incline, and asthe power which said lever exerts decreases as said lever approaches itsvertical position, the car comes to a stand-still gradually and withouta sudden jerk.

The above described construction enables me to provide a very simple,yet most efficient automatic shift, the weighted lever exerting apositive power, while the rigid connection between said leverand carprevents sudden starts and jolts in the ascent or descent of the car.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic shift, the combination with an incline plane of a caror like receptacle traveling thereon, a revolving drum at the head ofsaid incline said car being secured by rope or cable to said revolvingdrum, a rigid, weighted lever, and gearing mechanism between Said drumand said rigid weighted lever adaptedto return the car,substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

2. In an automatic shift, the combination with an incline plane, of thecar or like receptacle, the rope or cable I), drum 0, the pinion dmeshing with the gear wheel e, the pinionf meshing with the gear wheelg, and the weighted lever h secured to the shaft g, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

3. In an automatic shift, the combination with an incline plane, of acar having an upwardly inclined bottom,hinged sides and looking armssecured thereto engaging with suitable locking devices, the locking armshaving rollers journaled therein and supplementary arms engaging with acam or like tripping device at the foot of said incline operating torelease the locking arms, and an inclined face upon which the saidrollers travel when the locking arms are raised, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

4. In an automatic shift, the combination with an incline plane of thecar (1 having the inclined bottom 71, the sidesj hinged atj', the

bars journaled in said sides, the locking arms Z and n engaging with thebrackets m and 0, respectively, said locking arms 72. having the rollers'r journaled therein and traveling. on the inclined bars 3, the levers qwith

